Environmentally Isolated Waveguide Display

Abstract

A waveguide display is provided comprising: an input image generator providing image light projected over a field of view; a waveguide having first and second external surfaces; and at least one grating optically coupled to the waveguide for extracting light towards a viewer. The waveguide has a lateral refractive index variation between said external surfaces that prevents any ray propagated within the waveguide from optically interacting with at least one of the external surfaces.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIMS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 543,016, entitled “Environmentally Isolated Waveguide Display” to Popovich et al, filed Jul. 12, 2017, which is the U.S. National Phase of PCT Application No. PCT / GB2016 / 000005, entitled “Environmentally Isolated Waveguide Display” to Popovich et al, filed Jan. 12, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 125,066, entitled “OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE DISPLAYS FOR INTEGRATION IN WINDOWS” to Waldern et al, filed Jan. 12, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to a display device, and more particularly to a holographic optical waveguide display.[0003]Optical waveguide devices are being developed for a range of display applications such as Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) and Heads Up Displays (HUDs). Another field of application of waveguides is in sensors such as eye track...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a waveguide display that isolates image light from external environments, using a grating optically coupled to the waveguide to extract light towards a viewer of the display. The waveguide has a lateral refractive index variation between its external surfaces to prevent interaction between external surfaces and the propagating light. The waveguide can contain a GRIN medium and the grating can be a surface relief structure or a switchable Bragg grating. The display can provide a HUD, HIVID, or a light field display and may also be immersed in air or contained in a low refractive index external medium. The technical effects of this invention include improved image quality, reduced power consumption, and improved viewing angles.

Problems solved by technology

However, waveguide devices that use total internal reflection (TIR) to transmit image information suffer from the problem the beam propagation may be disturbed by damage to or contamination of the external waveguide surfaces by foreign materials.

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